Are these acorns? Acorns?! And berries? Really? This week I have had the pleasure of pulling a variety of sizes of acorns and berries in varying stages of decay from my dryer lint screen, out of lunchboxes, from coat pockets and even from between my sheets. Small (and some not so small) tiny treasures that my five year old has picked up during the day have made their way into every facet of my life.
I’m pretty sure she has some hoarding tendencies. Her dad will tell you that she comes by those honestly. (My oldest has them, too.) I have picked her up from school before when she was walking like her shoes were three sizes too small only to find that her socks were full of some tiny rocks that she collected while at recess. We can’t walk into or out of our church without her stopping at the landscaping to pick the tiny green berries that grow on the monkey grass. And what does she do with these tiny treasures she collects? She gives them to me, of course! I am the recipient of her generous gifts. And I always have the same response – why? Why do we need these? And her answer to me never varies – because they’re wonderful and I want you to have them, Mama.
Dang! I thought I was going to get to toss these to the side or in the nearest trash can, but no such luck. When your five year old gives you something, even junk, out of the love in her heart, you have to accept it with the same love. You don’t however, have to keep it. I usually manage to smile and thank her and stuff them into my pocket or down in the bottom of my purse for “safe keeping.” Occasionally, I even convince her to “hold onto them for Mama” so I won’t lose them. I do this, and then I forget. I forget about the handful of berries or crumpled up leaves or flower petals that were gifted to me so lovingly until I am in a hurry to get my checkbook out to pay someone and it’s covered in smushed up berry guts. (Yes, this really happened!) Or I forget until I’m running late and I’m looking for something in my car and I stick my hand into a rotten pile of orange acorn mash. (Yes, this happened today!) And then I remember.
I remember that she took the time to pick some flowers or gather acorns or find the prettiest rock in the parking lot just because she loves me. As I’m trying to locate every tiny seed that got stuck in the washing machine, I have to remind myself that the hands and heart that gave it had only the best of intentions. These nuisances and extra cleaning jobs for me were at one point tiny treasures to her, and she wanted to share them with me. Writing about it now, it seems so easy – just relish in the love and sweetness of it all. Remember that she won’t always want to share everything with me. In the moment, however, I am usually less graceful. In the moment, I am exasperated and wondering just how long this “collecting” phase will last. I am often exhausted and sometimes even angry that when all I want to do is go to sleep, I have to take the time to brush the sheets clean of all these so-called gifts. But really, this is a time to enjoy. Even if these tiny treasures add time to my housework or show up at inopportune moments, I have a child who is experiencing the world around her totally unjaded and wants to share those experiences with me.
So, if you have a treasure hunter in your house like I do, I hope you can find the joy in the moment and not worry too much about the mess it’s going to create later. And just FYI, from my own experience, I can tell you the phase lasts until at least age 10, although the gifts get more and more infrequent.
Happy Hunting!